Lahat ng Kabanata ng Dive in Deep: Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

SadeI rushed into the employee break room and grabbed my purse, pulling out my phone. I knew there would be a text from him. He had steady access to his phone and often texted me throughout the day. I checked every break I got. It was something pleasant to look forward to.I was completely bummed I wasn’t going to get to see Trent until at least the following weekend. It was a hard feeling to describe, but my heart felt a little empty. I felt like I was missing a part of me. He wasn’t dead. He was only a couple hundred miles away, but it felt like a couple thousand miles.I sat down at the small table in the breakroom, my phone on the table as I opened up my lunchbox. I took a bite of my sandwich when the door pushed open. One of my colleagues walked in. He was probably my least favorite coworker. There was something about him that just rubbed me wrong.“Hi, Sade,” he said with a smile.“Hi, Cash.”He grabbed a soda from the fridge and sat down at the table. “Whatcha doing?”I looked

TrentI knew I was pushing the envelope a bit, but I had to see her. I checked the time and figured if I left work right then, I could squeeze in a couple of hours with Sade. I would go home, change into my tux, fly over, and be back by nine to make an appearance at the gala I was supposed to be attending.It wasn’t much, but two hours with her was better than nothing at all. I called Richie as I walked out the door. I didn’t want to give him the chance to stop me.“Hey, I’m leaving early,” I said as soon as he picked up.“What?”“I’m cutting out early,” I repeated. “I’ll catch up with you tonight. You can babysit Gabe for the rest of the day. I need a break.”“Are you going where I think you’re going?”I chuckled. “I can neither confirm or deny that statement.”“Don’t you dare call me with some bullshit excuse that you can’t make it back,” he warned.“See you later,” I said and ended the call.Bentley was waiting to drive me home. My tux was already waiting for me. I quickly changed

SadeIt felt a little funny to be back at the airport after being there just last night. I waited along with a horde of other people. A stream of people came through the gates, announcing a plane had deboarded. I waited to see if my dad would be among the many people coming my way.He was. I smiled when I saw him. I waved. “Dad!”He looked up, scanning the area. I waved bigger. He saw me, the typical stern look on his face as he walked toward me a bag slung over his shoulder. He always packed light.“You look good,” he said.I smiled. “Thanks. You look like you’ve been getting some sun as well.”He nodded. “Your mother wanted a new deck.”“Damn, that’s ambitious.”He smirked. “I hired some help. The project proved to be too big for me.”I laughed. “I bet. I’m glad you got some help.”“What’s on the agenda?” he asked, getting right down to business.I shrugged. “I was thinking we could go furniture shopping.”“You don’t have any furniture?”“I have furniture, but I want to get a bed fo

TrentToday was the first day of what I hoped was going to be a smart business decision. Gabe was at the new hotel—alone. He was going to be taking meetings with contractors and putting out any of the little fires that always came up during a renovation. Richie and I were only a phone call away, and ultimately, the contractors would come to me with anything big, but it was up to Gabe.I was slowly buying into the idea of the kid managing the hotel and Richie taking over the day-to-day stuff at the other two. I had already hired extra office staff to support them. They didn’t know my real reason for adding extra help.I clicked the mouse, zooming in on one of the hotel properties for sale in Fresno. I should have been catching up on the pile of paperwork and the unanswered emails, but I was thinking about my future. I knew what I wanted for that future. Sade. I wanted Sade.My idea was to buy a hotel in Fresno and move closer to her to run said hotel. That meant Richie and Gabe would h

SadeI was feeling the loneliness. Living alone had been fun and new at first, but it quickly got old. I didn’t think I was cut out to be alone. I was bored. Every night I sat on my couch, flipping through channels and texting Trent—assuming he was able to text. I talked to myself—a lot. Probably more than was healthy. I ate alone. I did everything alone.I was feeling the distance between Trent and me, as well as the distance between me and Khloe and Julia. As expected, they were both busy with their new lives, and the texting between the three of us was already starting to slow. I felt that part of my life slipping away. I needed to make new friends.“Hey,” I said to Holly, popping my head in her little lab space.“What’s up? Are you done for the day?”I nodded. “I am. You?”“Just finishing up.”“Do you want to grab some dinner?” I asked hopefully.“Sure!”I sighed with relief. I had been worried she would shoot me down. I was starving for some company and dreaded the idea of eating